Experiment- Registering for a USPS promotion

My initial aim was to write a how-to article on registering for USPS promotions, but found it to be quite the confusing process. As the Social Media guy, I seldom have to walk through the registration process that comes with USPS promotions. Overall, if you haven't gone through the entire registration before with the USPS, knowing what to look for can cause a lot of frustration.

I started with the basic instruction to go to the USPS Business Customer Gateway, and since I hadn't already registered, I followed the "New User Registration" process. This seemed pretty easy, and I soon had a mailer ID. But where were the promotions? After a great deal of searching, I found that the promotions were called "Incentive programs." I was redirected to a confusing page with a list of services. I clicked through the registration for the incentives, I waited. And I am still waiting. I gave up.Many of this year's promotions revolve around emerging technologies, such as mobile commerce,augmented reality, and variable printing. The 2% postage discount is absolutely worth the investment, but the way the registration is set up, I worry that many mailers will abandon this process. The Post Office is banking on having these promotions drum up additional mailings, and usher mailers to move into the world of truly multichannel marketing, but the USPS seems to lacking in their own technological advances.

After this frustrating experience in trying to walk myself through the process, I completely understand the importance of working with a marketing partner, such as SourceLink, to easily guide you through this process. The assistance with the postal savings is just the tip of the iceberg, as many mailers aren't familiar enough with these emerging technologies. The first two promotions now open for registration are the "Mobile Coupon/Click-to-Call" and "Earned Value Reply Mail" promotions. Later in the year, the "Emerging Technologies" promotion will almost undoubtedly require a Marketing Services Provider. Working with a Mailing Services Provider allows you to register your mailings through the provider, and skip all of the hassle with navigating these choppy waters yourself.

At SourceLink, we hope you won't experience the same struggle I did in registering and accessing these promotions. Our team of experts regularly takes advantage of these USPS promotions for our customers and we’re happy to assist you in benefiting from these cost saving benefits. Let us know if we can help.